Side guard for cutting machines



Jan. 8, 1957 CLARK 2,776,483

SIDE GUARD FOR CUTTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 24, 1956 VENTOR.

United States Patent SIDE GUARD FOR CUTTING MACHINES Frederick G. Clark, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Machine Company, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application January 24, 1956, Serial No. 561,031

3 Claims. (Cl. 30--276) This invention relates to cutting machines of the type commonly used for cutting cloth and other flexible sheet material, and more particularly to machines of this kind employing a circular rotary knife.

Machines of this type are usually provided with a side guard adjacent to one side of the rear portion of the knife which protects the operator from being cut and prevents the rearward edge of the knife from cutting into the lay of the material when cutting curves. This side guard is preferably as close to the knife as possible, but not in contact with it. The side guard normally remains on the machine during any cutting operation, but must be removed when it is necessary to remove the knife for replacement.

Withside guards a's heretofore'constructed, the removal frequently involves difficulty, since side guards of prior construction often became stuck in their operative positions, and their removal sometimes resulted in the operator cutting himself on the knife.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a side guard of improved construction which is so mounted on the machine that it may be easily removed therefrom so that the chances of the operators cutting themselves on the knives are greatly reduced. It is also an object of this invention to provide a side guard which is of relatively simple and inexpensive construction, and the lower end of which is secured to the base of the machine by means of an improved construction.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of one embodiment of the invention and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Patented Jan. 8, 19 57 one side of the knife, namely, the right side as shown in the drawings. When it is desired to remove the knife, the clamping nut is unscrewed from the flange on the gear 14, whereupon the knife may be removed, by moving it to the left, and consequently, the guard for the rear left edge of the knife must first be removed to permit the knife to be removed.

In the construction shown in the particular embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, rep- Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation of the lower portion of a cutting machine having a side guard embodying this invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view thereof, on line 22, Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional plan views thereof, on lines 33 and 44, respectively, on Fig. l.

The cutting machine shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings includes the usual circular rotary knife 8 mounted on a standard 9 which is secured to and extends upwardly from the base plate 10. This base is mounted on suitable rollers and adapted to move over the surface of a table or support on which the material to be cut lies and underneath the material. The standard 9 supports a motor (not shown), and knife 8 is mounted for rotation on the standard 9 in any usual manner, the knife shown being clamped between one side of a gear 14, Fig. 2, and a clamping nut 15 which has a threaded engagement with a correspondingly threaded flange of the gear 14. This gear forms a part of a driving connection from the motor to the knife, and is mounted by means of suitable bearings, such as ball bearings on a hub 16 which is preferably formed integral with the standard 9.

The rear portion of the standard 9 extends rearwardly beyond the edge of the knife 8 and forms a guard along resents the side guard which has its rear edge formed approximately in accordance with the curvature of the knife and arranged to extend rearwardly a short distance beyond the rear edge of the knife. The front or leading edge of the side guard is beveled as shown at 21 to facilitate its passing through the material after the same has been cut.

The lower end 22 of the side guard is secured to the base plate of the machine in such manner as to be easily removed therefrom and extends into a recess or depression 24 formed in the base plate. This depression is preferably circular in form and a part of this depression is occupied by an approximately semi-circular lower end or foot 26 of the standard 9 which may be secured to the base plate in any usual or suitable manner, so that the upper face of this foot is flush with the upper surface of the base plate. The lower edge of the side guard extends rearwardly to a limited extent to form a heel 25 which serves as a fulcrum about which the side guard may be swung to disengage the recess 30 and the pin 28.

Suitable means are provided for securing the base of the guard in fixed position in the depression 24 of the base plate, and in the particular construction shown for this purpose, I have provided a pin 28 suitably secured on the foot 26 of the standard. This pin extends outwardly into position to be engaged by a notch or recess 30 formed in the lower end of the side guard and extending upwardly from the lower edge thereof. The pin may, if desired, be provided intermediate of the ends thereof with a flange or enlargement 31 which serves as a stop to limit the extent to which the guard can move toward the knife 8. In order to hold the lower end of the guard in engagement with the pin, a filler block 32 is employed which is arranged in the depression in the base plate in such a manner that the upper face thereof will be flush with the base plate. This filler block prevents movement of the lower end 22 of the side guard laterally out of engagement with the pin in one direction while the flange 31 prevents lateral movement in the other direction, the pin engaging in the slot 30 preventing movement of the lower end of the side guard lengthwise of the machine.

The upper end of the side guard may be removably secured in place on the standard 9 in any desired manner. In the construction shown, the standard is provided with a boss or projection 33 which extends laterally from the same and against which the upper end of the side guard is held. This end of the side guard may be secured to the lug or projection 33 in any suitable manner, for example, by means of a lock bolt 35, see particularly Fig. 3, which extends through a hole in the standard 9 and the projection 33 and is held in place by means of a nut 36. The upper end of the side guard is formed to receive the bolt 35, being preferably slotted or forked, as shown at 37. This forked end will straddle the bolt 35 and be positioned between the lug or projection 33 and the head of the bolt 35 and may be securely clamped in place by means of the nut 36.

When it is desired to remove the side guard, it is only necessary to loosen the nut 36 so that the upper end of the side guard may be swung rearwardly out of engagement with the bolt 36. During this rearward movement, the lower end of the side guard will be easily disengaged from the pin 28 by a lever action resulting from the swinging of the side guard on the lower corner or heel 25 thereof as a fulcrum, which results in a very easy disengagement of the pin 28 and the slot 30. The construction describedalso facilitates the insertion of the side guard into its operative position, since it is merely necessary to. position the same so the slot 30 is over the pin 38, whereupon slight downward pressure on the side guard and a swinging of the same into the full line position shown in Fig. 1, will result in the correct location of the lower end of the side guard on the machine.

By means of the construction described, the side guard may be made of a single piece of stamped metal, and the pin 28- may be easily manufactured on an automatic screw machine and secured in a hole drilled in the base of the standard. The danger of having an operator cut himself when removing the side guard has been reduced to a minimum, since after the clamping screw 35 has been loosened it is only necessary for the operator to push the upper end of the side guard in a direction away from the knife 8, during which movement, it is very improbable that the operator could cut himself on the knife.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a cutting machine including a rotary knife, a base plate slidable under the material to be cut and having a depression in the upper face thereof, and a standard extending upwardly from said base plate and on which said knife is rotatably mounted, said standard having a part extending along one side of said knife and beyond the rear edge thereof, that improvement which includes a side guard positioned along the opposite side of said knife and which has the lower end thereof extending into said depression and is provided with a notch therein extending upwardly from the lower edge thereof, a pin on said standard andv arranged in said depression and which enters into said notch when the side guard is in its operative position, said side guard having a portion thereof extending rearwardly from said notch to form a fulcrum about which said side guard swings when the upper end thereof is moved rearwardly to disengage said notch in said pin, and means for releasably securing the upper end of said side guard to said standard to support said side guard adjacent to and in spaced relation to said knife.

2. A cutting machine side guard construction accord- .tg to claim 1 and including a filler block seated in said depression and engaging the lower end of said side guard to hold the same against lateral movement out of engagement with said pin.

3. A cutting machine side guard construction according to claim 1 and including a filler block seated in said depression and engaging the lower end of said side guard to hold the same against lateral movement out of engagement with said pin in one direction, said pin having a flange formed thereon which restricts movement of the lower end of said side guard laterally in the opposite direction toward said knife.

No references cited. 

